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Acapella vs. Avantgarde

I currently run a Cary CD-306, Cary SLP-05 preamp, and Cary 805AE monoblocks with a pair of ProAc D38's (see system). The combination is sweet and involving, but the combo just does not boogie when asked to play a large orchestral piece, by Mahler/Wagner/Shostakovich. When the volume is turned up, dynamics are poor and the system starts to sound compressed. I suspect that the 50W Cary's simply does not have enough guts to drive the ProAc's, so I am considering replacing them with a more efficient speaker. Since most SET afficionadoes love horns, this led me to look into Avantgarde and Acapella.

I live in Melbourne, Australia. Avantgarde is available through a dealer here, but he does not have any in stock. The Acapella dealer is in Sydney (a plane flight away). I am looking to spend A$30,000 - which will buy a nice Avantgarde Duo, or a secondhand Acapella High Violon.

I have read plenty about the dynamics of the Avantgardes, but my concern is if they have horn coloration. Also, how do they image? Are they sensitive to room placement?

Would the Acapella High Violon's be a better buy, considering the pair I can potentially get my hands on have been heavily discounted? I have read that Acapella's suffer from disjointed sound because of the three different driver technologies (plasma tweeter, horn mids, conventional woofer). How much is this a problem? And are there any room placement issues? Given that the Acapella's have lower sensitivity (91 dB/W/m) would I be achieving a real upgrade by moving from the ProAc's?
amfibius

Showing 4 responses by cmo

cmo
471 posts
 
Amfibius,

I wouldn't call the Avantgarde's "harsh and trebly". The AVG "sound" if you will, is revealing and VERY dynamic. I think whart does a good job describing things... If I can I'll add a little more to help you clear things up.

I came from big Martin Logans (Prodigy's) which were really nice. They threw a huge soundstage and were very fast and revealing..... But, laid back and polite.

Now, with the AVG's things are still VERY fast and VERY revealing. The main diffences are that these speaker are not laid back; I don't mean they are aggressive (although they can be w/the wrong front end or recording). They "jump". They are very dynamic; that drum thwack is gonna thwack man! It took me a little getting used to this "sound" after my nice sweet, polite 'stats...... Now there is no going back. Who know's where the journey will end, but I have to say, this horn thing is really cool.

More....... Take it as gospel that you will hear everything; cell phones, tube changes, the master-mix in the next room if it's on your same circuit, but like other have said; you can get it all sorted out with a little effort.

I'm not so sure about your room; it looks like you have your ProAcs pretty close to the front wall. You're going to need some space behind the AVG's (think 3-4 feet min.).

I'm not so sure about your amps with the AVG's either.... Transformer noise is an issue and you need quiet amps.

Hope all of this helps.

Chris
cmo
471 posts
 
Jim,

I know this is a bit of a general question that has a lot of variables that need to be considered...... But, do you have a baseline/starting place for crossover frequency on the AVG/Sub 225's? I think the manual suggests 220Hz or something crazy (and I think this is where the integration issues come from), but I am getting VERY good results with a setting closer 140Hz.

Thanks,

Chris
cmo
471 posts
 
Jim,

Thanks again for taking the time to respond here..... It's selfish I know, but man I wish you were still involved with these speakers.

Chris
cmo
471 posts
 
I demoed my AVG's with a BAT VK75se at my dealer. I thought the sound was pretty bad; my dealer had the speakers set-up well (he is very knowledgable about AVG's and has a lot of experience with the brand), but the sound was rolled off and disjointed. Through it all I could hear something that I liked.....

In the end he offered to let me audition them at home and I was able to borrow a pair of Nagra VPA 845's from him. The sound clicked into place with these amps and I bought 'em. The Nagra's were not the best match either (they were too noisy) but they did let me hear what the speakers are capable of. I have tried about five different amps with my speakers since and can tell you they are VERY revealing of what's driving them.

FWIW, I finally settled on an Art Audio PX-25 and am very happy.

Chris
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